The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-11-03


and remaining until specified time,
with distinct understanding that y
trade 10 brisk, particularly during boil.
day times, they must remain-no matter
how late the hour"
'Do you allow them anything extrar
"Oh, no. We keep and pay them dur.
ing the dull seasons Of the year, when
there ID very little TO do; why shouldn't
they reciprocate and help % when there
10 considerable to dot"
"Do you allow them anything for sup.
per ct such timesw
Certainly not"
"But they lose their own at home"
"Oh, well, what is the use Of going
into thatf II she doesn't like her place
all she has to do 10 to step down and out.
We have scores Of applications every
week."
"ln case Of illness what 10 your rulef"
"Well, the strict rule by which We are
governed 10 no work, no pay. There 10
difference. Some girls are hired by the
year, some by the month, but majority
BY the week. If one of the first-named
should be Ill for . few days there would
be no deduction made; II she were to re-
main away more than . week. however,
unless she were very valuable woman,
she would receive half pay only"
"For how longf"
"Oh, that depends entirely upon the
individual The rule would be for .
month at furthest, but the others would
have to be without their pay while alb
sent. You see It would be very easy
matter to ill the places with girls, and
we are put to serious Inconvenience when
they stay away, which is quite sufficient
set-of for their loss Of pay. In the case
Of . good, bright, smart girl we would
keep the place open for her; but, as .
general thing, II . girl is away two or
three days we take 1t for granted that
without entering into tive don't keep the
place for her."
"Are they satisfied, do you think, with
the money that you pay p
II dare say they would like more, but
in our business, as in every other we'll
regulated occupation, compensation is
regulated by the law of supply and
demand. You see there Is really very
little responsibility upon these girls.
They have nothing to think of. A GUS
toner asks and they answer q question.
She wants to see this, that or the other.
They show It. The price 10 plainly
marked, and all the girl has to do is to
pay attention. No man who values the
reputation of his store will countenance
his girls in soliciting customers to buy.
It is nuisance which is very rarely
effective and never profitable. Of course
there Is difference between ordinary
girls and practiced, high-priced sales
man or saleswoman. They have tact
enough to adroitly display or quietly
suggest without extensively thrusting
bargain before customers eyes; but
these little girls are like so many colts"
"You say you don't pay them while
they are ILL How do they liver"
"Well, don't know that that is any of
my business, beyond the fact that am
careful in engaging girls. judge from
their appearance somewhat, and by their
recommendation q great deal. We rarely
to US all. Some of them have sisters or
cousins or relatives or friends here al
ready, and, although I never thought
about 1t before, if they are i'll and com.
PEELED to stay away, the relative or friend
who thought enough of her to get her
the position will think enough Of her to
take care of her."
II suppose you consider yourself . con-
siderate employer 2"
eyes, indeed very rarely speak to
| the girls. know them, of course, but !
have very little to do with them. They
are under the control of the floor
| walker in each department, who 10 re.
sponsible for the discipline, and although
he has no power to discharge, his recon.
mendation would be acted upon ninety.
nine times in q hundred"
| 1t is noticeable fact that In almost all
the large stores the Hebrew element is in
a vast majority. There are few candy
stores, millinery shops, boot and shoe
"emporiums" and restaurants where the
employees are not of the Hebrew persua.
sion. These are chiefly country girls
and women, but they are totally dis
tinct class from shop-girls of the period.
Shop-girls vary from fifteen to twenty
years of age, seventeen being q fair
whom we see, bright and chippy and
attired from top to toe, and
lot, although, as an experienced employer
said, "There isn't girl in this store who
doesn't expect to be married before she
is twenty years old, and the consequences
Ia that money is looked upon as q means
to temporary end. They regard every
dollar they receive as SO much spending
money. They don't pretend to save any.
thing. I don't know as they could If
they wanted to. Every penny outside of
their board goes for clothing, the two
articles on which they lay the greatest
stress being their hats and their shoes, q
kind Of perversion Of the French the
ory, I suppose, that "a woman well
gloved and well shod can 60 through the
world without criticism"
New York is q great place, and her
mysteries have been the theme of writers
many time and oft, but l doubt If the
cynic, the humanitarian, or the ordinary
man or woman can find, in all the wide
horizoned range, anything more mystic
riously interesting or interestingly mys.
terious than the shop-girls Of the
period-where they come from, where
they 60, and how they live. HOWARD
CORK.
Some Interesting Points Concerning Thii
| Very Useful Article.
| The density NJ corl varios with its oual;tu